The Last Arrest

Twinkle lights clicked against the window's exterior, threatening to break in the freezing wind. She was warm inside, too warm, unlike the people rushing by the small coffee shop. Her blunt fingernail repeatedly tapped the steaming cup, her second one, while her other hand clutched the badge hidden beneath her coat. The bell on the door kept chiming and her neck was starting to get sore from looking up...

It has to end, she thought. It has to end today. It has to be here, there is no other way.

She began to steel herself for what was to come. She took long, slow breaths, holding for five seconds, then exhaling. Find my center, she thought. I can't let on that I know who and what he is, that is my one advantage. Her heart rate slowed to a resting pulse of sixty beats, a calm washed over her and she made a mantra of 'it ends today'.

The bell dinged again, and she came out of her semi-trance and see him walk in and stroll casually over to their table. He seemed older, wearier than she remembered, but she knew the reasons for that. He slid into the chair opposite her, squeaking the legs across the planked floor like fingernails on a chalkboard. She knew that trick and wasn't buying it. Still, she made a face so he wouldn't suspect.

He looked her over and finally said, “You look good, “ as if checking out a chuck roast. She could tell he wasn't doing a very good job hiding behind his middle-aged face. The familiar tics and expressions of his face were all but gone, this was not the man she knew anymore. She managed a smile that looked authentic as she replied with a 'you too'. Wasn't feeling it, though. 'Too much water under the bridge' came to mind.

They chit-chatted about their lives and he asked about her son, she told him half-truths about his whereabouts, just in case things went south. He eventually sighed, arranged his arms on the table, hands folded together. He asked her what she wanted anyways? This was more awkward than she expected, as her hand on the badge twitched, hoping she wasn't telegraphing her next move.

This was that moment. This part will either make or break the day. She had to make it all look natural, so people wouldn't get the wrong idea, or for that matter suspect the hidden truth. She made her actions appear casual, as she lifted her cup.

“Well, it's like this, “ she began. “You made a grave mistake, because I've known you for so long that I can tell you're not yourself any more...” The cup was a classic distraction, as she brought out the badge and presented it to him. It appeared to other people as a typical police badge, but he could see it was so much more, as he recoiled from the glow that sought to surround him. Too late. He was held by the glow, and after a brief struggle he slouched into the chair.

She spoke low and in a foreign tongue no one else in the coffee shop knew..

“You are hereby placed under arrest for crimes against Humanity.” He chuckled. In the same language, he croaked, “Well played. But you know if you take me, he dies. And what about the woman you hold? You leave, she dies as well.”

She looked at him, seeing his true form encased in the human body her host had once loved, knowing that he wasn't aware that her host was already terminal and agreed to the merge when she laid out her case against him. She promised her she will be at peace and her son would be cared for and protected. She smiled a wry smile. His true form made a ethereal version of a shrug, and allowed himself to be taken into custody. The glow drew him out of the man's body and withdrew back into the badge. The man slumped over in his chair, dead. She got up, acting almost panicky as she came around the table to minister to the lifeless body of the man. Calling out to the server to call 911, she stayed in character long enough to clear the scene, telling the EMTs that her ex-husband had suffered from hypertension and wasn't taking his meds like he was supposed to... She knew the routine. But this was the last one. It was time to retire from service, hunting them down one by one. They wore humans like suits, using them to gleefully inflict harm on anyone they chose. She thought of something she heard once, maybe in a movie. Someone was asked why they did it. They said, “No reason. I just like doing stuff like that.” How does one fight such reckless abandon? She left that one for the philosophers as she walked out into the crisp cold of the day, wondering how this war will ever end.